Multidisciplinary International Conference on Futuristic Trends for Sustainable Ecosystem

(FTSE-2021)

A Mobile Application to Minimize the Data Management Issues in

Construction Projects
Jeet Parikha, Dr. J. R. Pitrodab, Er. Jay Mody
a
M.Tech. Student, Construction Engineering and Management, Civil Engineering Department, BVM Engineering College,
Vallabh Vidyanagar, Gujarat.
b
Associate Professor, PG Coordinator, Construction Engineering and Management, Civil Engineering Department, BVM Engineering College,
Vallabh Vidyanagar, Gujarat.
c
Civil Engineer, Project Lead, Department of Project Development Services,Jones lang Lasalle,
Ahmedabad, Gujarat.

Abstract

As we all are aware of the fact that any construction project generates enormous amount of the data which requires proper
planning and techniques to manage them. Cost overruns and construction project delays can be attributed to traditional practices
in managing the site data. So, it is necessary to exchange documents and information about construction projects in a planned and
effective manner. One such solution regarding the problems, and for effective management of the site data is by implementing
digitalization in their organization. The construction industry is increasingly using mobile devices in their different stages. Also,
Mobile devices have the ability to ease the process of data management and improve the communication amongst project
participants. Hence this research is intended to identify the current issues people face in managing the site data through a
questionnaire survey and development of the mobile application system to minimize these issues. From the data collected through
Questionnaire, the required features of the application are targeted and as per the market demand they are incorporated in the app.
The developed application was then tested on two different residential projects in Ahmedabad. Through the app the firms were
easily able to manage the data of the site and they were also able to save certain amount of cost and time. This work aims to solve
the major issues in the data handling process for the construction projects which is inevitably necessary in this construction
sector.

Keywords: Mobile application, Construction Sites, Construction data management, Digitalization.

1. Introduction

In any Construction projects, information management and project management are closely related to each other.
Outcomes of project is a set of documents which are produced during project life cycle. If organization is able to
define outcomes and those needs at various intermediate stage of project, then it can monitor the progress of project
through data management system. Project management concept helps project manager to complete project on time
and cost with better quality. Throughout life cycle of project, tremendous number of documents are generated and
handling of these documents become essential. As per research carried out, on an average, data are created daily
about anything. Every concrete casting work on site, it is essential and compulsory to undergo various checks for
formwork and quality of concrete. All these things are being checked by filling the checklist of particular individual
work on site-by-site engineer and that creates a document. Storing of all these data helps at later stage of
construction. Issues or disputes are not occurring on daily basis, but at the time of disputes all the records maintained
as a document helps the person to solve the problem.
Advancement of Computer technology in construction industry have contributed a lot to use it as a mean to
reduce some of the problems generated at site. Some of its major benefits include better access to the site data,
remote handling of the work, improved financial and communication control of the project, and decrease errors in
data management. Among all IT applications, Internet is the technology that best facilitates a collaborative working
environment in a construction project. Its use as a communication medium can help information transfer occurs
faster and more effectively and can provide new opportunities for the development of distributed systems.
Development of mobile apps for every aspect has been improved drastically so its associated technologies can be
used to manage construction projects and it has been widely acknowledged by practitioners. This concept is often
referred to as a Cloud-based Project Management System (CPMS), a promise to enhance construction project

* Jeet Hemansubhai Parikh Tel.: +91-7878104820.

E-mail address: Jpjeetparikh0@gmail.com
and control and to transfigure the way in which a construction project team conducts business. The mobile
application component provides users with valuable features such as, receive sites instructions, send requests for
interpretations and retrieve information about projects. It helps to manage the storage of documents in a cloud-based
system which can be accessed anytime anywhere from the mobile. Due to wide usability and benefits of accessibility
it can result in cost saving and time saving of the construction projects. This research includes the development of
such an application named constructify to resolve the issues in construction projects.

2. Objectives of the Study

The ultimate goal of this research is to resolve the issues in traditional method of data management at
construction sites with the help of suitable mobile application software.
Following are the main objectives to achieve the ultimate goal:
 To study the traditional process of data management at site.
 To find out issues in traditional method of data management.
 To develop an android based application for the effective database management, all at one place.
 To implement the android app developed on live projects.
 To find the major benefits after application of android App on real site.

3. Research Methodology

Research process is a sequence of activities necessary to carry out research effectively. The Figure 1 shows the
research process adopted in this research work.

Fig. 1. Research Methodology

4. Questionnaire Preparation and Data Collection

The method used in this research was questionnaire which was designed in such a way that it ensures to address
the objectives of the study. The questionnaire was designed in such a way that it is well interpreted by the researcher
and it is simple and clear to understand by the respondents. Questionnaire was prepared after carrying a small pilot
survey of the problems being faced in traditional method of data management and accordingly the questions are
being set. 9 major issues were identified which are being faced while handling the data. It also covers the questions
regarding the awareness amongst the people about new ways of data management. The issues are shown in the table
1 below.

Table 1. Issue’s people face in Traditional method of Data Management

Sr. Issues in Traditional method of
No data Management of Project
.
1 Extension of Project Completion Time
2 Addition of extra works on Site
3 Increase in Cost
4 Chances of dispute
5 Confusion amongst Team Members
6 Change in Plan
7 Degradation in Quality
8 Non-success of Project
9 Others

The form was distributed to varied stakeholders in Ahmedabad town by informing them concerning the aim of
this analysis and asking them concerning their temperament to participate within the research. After the respondents
were willing to participate, the questionnaire was given to them. 69 respondents given their valuable time for this
research work and gave responses. Various Stakeholders include Engineers, Contractors, Project Managers and
Owners of the company.

5. Results and Discussion

Outcomes of the questionnaire survey are discussed in this part.

6. Ranking of the Issues as per Relative Importance Index (RII) Method

In order to evaluate the major issue, the mean score of the answers for the various project characteristics from the
five-point scale used in the questionnaire must be determined. Individual attributes such as the mean and standard
deviation are not accurate figures for determining overall rankings. As a result, the average relative rating of the
attributes is dependent on the Relative Importance Index (RII), which is calculated using the formula below. Table.
2. shows the top 9 criteria through RII method.

Xi Y i
Relative Importance Index RII = ∗5 Equation No. 1
Zi
where,
RII = Relative Importance Index
Xi = number of responses to the factors
Yi = the value of rating
Zi = total number of responses to the factor
 Table 2. Ranking of the issues in traditional Method
Ranking based on the Responses
Issues in traditional method of data RII Value Rank
management
Chances of dispute 0.66667 1
Confusion amongst Team Members 0.634783 2
Increase in Cost 0.608696 3
Degradation in Quality 0.602899 4
Addition of extra works on Site 0.57971 5
Extension of Project Completion Time 0.571014 6
Others 0.562319 7
Change in Plan 0.55942 8
Non-success of Project 0.46087 9

To have a meaningful justification for the ranking of the framed characteristics, they are simply grouped into four
categories: Higher order (RII > 0.650), second order (0.650 > RII > 0.600), third order (0.600 > RII > 0.550), and
lower order (RII < 0.50). There is one higher order attribute with (RII > 0.65), three second-order attributes with
(RII > 0.600), four third- order attributes with (RII > 0.550), and one lower-order attribute with (RII > 0.400).
The highest ranked issue in traditional method of documentation is ‘Chances of Disputes' with a RII value of
0.66667, followed by confusion amongst team members, increase in cost, and degradation in quality, with RII values
ranging from 0.6347 to 0.6028. Disputes among stakeholders directly affect the project performance in real time.
The analysis of the top 9 Issues reveals that there is only a marginal gap in the value assigned to factors that are
similar to each other. These issues need to be resolved by the app.

7. Features Required in the Application by Professionals

To develop the app the best thing is to identify the needs of the people and solve the problems that they are
facing. Hence after the survey and after identifying the needs major features such as Photographs of site, Progress
Reports, Checklists, Manpower Report and Design and Drawing are included in the app which are amongst the top
priority of the respondents. Figure 2 shows the number and percentage of person wants different types of facilities
on digital platform.

Fig. 2. Number and Percentage of Person Wants Different Types of Facilities on Digital Platform
8. System Design

The present Application runs on any android operating devices and is named as Constructify. Constructify is the
first of a kind construction management application developed to manage the vast data of construction projects
effectively as per the requirements of the real professionals and data is being stored all at one place in a cloud server.
App is being developed using Flutter platform with C and C++ with Firebase server in background. Based on the
requirement modules of Material Management, Manpower Management, Equipment Management, Task
Management, Reports, Drawing Management and Quality Management are included in app. Also, the report
generated can be shared to any construction personnel using any sharing mode.

9. Use Case Diagram

The use case diagram represents the interactions amongst the elements of the system. It basically represents how
the system is being used to accomplish the goal of the user. It helps to bifurcate various features of the app
accordingly. Figure 3 shows the use case diagram of the App.

Fig. 3. Software Use Case Diagram

System administrator is the one who creates the account for the user. System administrator is responsible for
assigning privilege to the users as per their designation. Top management personnel like project manager,
contractors, architects will have privilege to create new projects and upload/download and edit data related to
project. On the other hand, lower-level managements such as site engineers and labourers have privilege to only
view the data which is being updated by the higher-level management. They do not have the authority to edit the
data.
Project Manager or top management personnel like contractors, owners, architects etc through the application
will be able to access all the data being stored in the application. Top management can (i) Generate new Project (ii)
Update material details (iii) Upload and Download site Documents (iv) Assign site instructions to the respective
person (v) Generate progress Reports (vi) Update Equipment Details (vii) Mark daily attendance of the staff (viii)
Monitor Progress of the projects and share the reports generated through various means of communication like email
or social networking apps.
Labourers or site supervisors are not given much authority to manage the projects as by doing such they can
misuse the information. Lower-level management can (i) View certain documents of the project (ii) View materials
available at site (iii) Download and view drawings (iv) review assigned works (v) View current activity and track
progress of the project.

10. Data Flow of the Application

The data of the app needs to be stored in a server so that it can be accessed easily by the user through the internet.
For the server google provides a cloud server storage facility Firebase which is being used in the application. The
user when updates the information on the application it is being stored temporarily on the user’s mobile if the
internet is not active. Once the device is connected to the internet it gets that data stored in a centralized database
which gives other users real time access through their app. The major benefits of such centralized systems are: 1)
Data integrity is maximized because the entire database is stored in a single physical location. This means that the
data is easier to coordinate and is as accurate and consistent. 2) The data redundancy in the centralized database is
minimal. Data is being stored together and not distributed in different places. Therefore, it is easier to ensure that
redundant data is not available.3) Since all the data is in one place, there may be strong security measures in place so
the centralized database is much more secure. Figure 4 shows the dataflow diagram through firebase server.

Fig. 4. Data Flow Diagram Through Firebase Server

11. Major Features of the Application

The overall app interface is divided into 8 parts as shown below:

1 Generation of the Project: The Top management can generate new projects and can manage multiple projects at
a time. For example, a project named Pushkar Sky is created. Under details of the project, we can write short
details about the Project for e.g., G+14 Residential project or any short details. We can also upload important
files related to the project at the time of creation of the project.
2 Material Management Module: Under the material management module, we can daily update the amount of
materials being used on a particular day and currently available material at site. This feature helps you to know
anytime that how much amount of material is being available at site and accordingly we can order the material
in time. All the material consumption is being shown in the progress reports auto generated
3 Equipment Management Module: Under the Equipment management module, we can daily update the number
of different equipment’s equipped at site and their daily working hours. This feature helps you to keep a track
on the number of days on which the equipment was employed and their working hours. This helps to cross
check with the worksheet of the equipment supplier and as mainly the equipment’s are hired and charged on
basis of the daily working hours it helps to keep the record for the same.
4 Manpower Management: Manpower management is the important feature in the app, it helps to know that how
many workers were present on a particular day so the record can be maintained in the app.
5 Drawing and Design Management: This is one of the most important features of the application. It has been
seen that most of the engineers are seen carrying the plan in paper to the site which requires to print the plan
details accordingly and it takes time to find the plan and also wastes money on printing the plans. This feature
avoids that and new plans can be updated by directly by the architects or respective personnel.
6 Auto Generation of Reports: Generally, people have to feed every single detail in order to create the daily
progress reports in traditional method which is undoubtedly time consuming and hectic. The constructify app
solves this problem with ease. All the details you have updated daily in the application will directly be shown in
the report generated. We can generate two types of report Daily progress Report and Monthly Progress Report.
7 Task Management: Under the daily task tab, we can assign the task to the specific person and ask them to revert
back on the task. If the task is done, they have to check the box which is ultimately shown in the daily report as
a completed task.
8 File Management: Under the files tab various files of the project can be uploaded also the photographs can be
uploaded of the site work carried out.

All these features are shown in the figure 5.

 Fig. 5. Major Features of Constrcutify

After the Application was developed it is needed to be tested at the real Site, looking to that the application was
being given to two major construction firms who were using traditional paper format to manage the site data before.
The Application was tested by the firms for almost 1 Month to know the issues and the benefits they encounter
while using the app rather than traditional format. Then after period of 1 Month the feedback survey was carried out.
After the feedback was carried out most of the users were satisfied. Although some of the users did mentioned some
new features to be included in the app. This app makes the data management of the site easier and it keeps all the
data in one place so no data can be lost in the future. After the application was implemented in the organization there
has been a considerable amount of saving in time and cost.

12. Conclusion

This research work tries to identify various issues being faced in traditional documentation method at the
construction sites by carrying out the questionnaire survey, and the issues are being tried to resolve by developing an
efficient mobile app for hassle free data management.
Following are the main key conclusions from the research carried out:
 In current Scenario it was found that around 52% of people are still dependent to maintain their site data in
traditional files. Most of the construction firms (more than 90%) are maintaining the contract documents,
checklists, bills of various items and Drawings in hardcopy.
 RII result depicts that the most common issue being faced in traditional method of documentation is the
chances of disputes among stakeholders while undergoing the project.
 By implementing the mobile application in the system approximately the organization was able to save
around 4000-6000 Rs by avoiding the unnecessary prints and hiring extra personnel to manage the data.
 Almost every day more than 1 hour of time is being saved by using the application.
 Drawings and design can easily be reviewed by the app.
 The owner was able to manage multiple projects at a time and was easily able to track the progress of each
project without asking to the anyone with the help of the mobile application .

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